Tahoe Bound

In June we took a weekend trip to Lake Tahoe.  Our original plan had been to spend the weekend with Shin and Heather in Yellowstone, but with Shin's health not doing so well, we amended plans to Tahoe.  Shin and Heather stayed at Heather's mom's while we stayed at my dad's. 

Somewhere along I-80 in Nevada.  It was so serene that I couldn't resist getting a picture.

We left Utah pretty early in the morning, and made it to Fernley by noon.  We made a pit stop and visited Jaimie, one of my best friends from high school.  We spent a couple hours at a park, letting the kids and dog play as we caught up.  Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures (what was I thinking?), but it was so good to spend the little time we were able.

River kept getting hurt and was whining quite a bit from being overtired.  She rarely sleeps in the car and that trip was no exception.  At one point she was running and ran straight into the bench we were sitting on.  She fell down, gave a cry and then didn't breathe.  It was as though she couldn't catch her breath.  It was way scary and she got really pale, her eyes rolled back and she did a little convulsion before she inhaled.  After that she started breathing normally and once calmed down seemed fine.  We debated whether to take her in, but since she seemed to snap out of it, we decided not to.  From that point on, however, I was distracted and worried about River, so we ended up cutting our time with Jaimie short.

It really is too bad, because about a week later, another similar incident happened.  River and the dog had a collision while playing and she stopped breathing.  I had time to grab Kai's resuscitation bag and call for J (who was outside) for help before she pulled in a breath on her own.  Luckily I didn't need the bag and she didn't convulse that time.  Having had two incidents so close together, we contacted her doctor, who said that it is something that occurs quite often with kids her age--as long as it is due to some trauma and not just happening out of the blue.  He said to sprinkle a little cold water on her or blow in her face and that will kick start her breathing again.  Sure enough, it happened a few weeks later while playing with her cousins and a quick blow in her face caused her to inhale.  Scary stuff!

We got into Tahoe just as my dad was getting off work, so it was good timing.  We spent some time at my dad's house before heading over to the church for a ward function.  J had started to not feel well on the drive to Tahoe, so he ended up staying at my dad's while the rest of us went.  We met up with Shin and Heather at the church as well.

The next morning, Saturday, we walked over to the beach by my dad's house and spent a little time playing in the water.  It was somewhat chilly, not even 70 yet, so we hadn't really planned on getting into the water, but as my dad said, kids and water are magnets, and evidently dogs too.  Pepper had as much, if not more fun in the water than the kids did.  She leaped through the water like a dolphin, and we all just laughed watching her play.

Independence Day

We spent our 4th of July rather low key this year.  We all donned our red, white and blue and went to Veteran's Memorial Park where they had a carnival.  We spent time at the carnival then went over to the park where the girls played.  However, the day was hot and we all decided to call it early.  We be-bopped over to the grocery store for food for our barbecue.  We ate dinner with my grandparents, with root beer floats for dessert.

My grandparents went home after dessert, and we got River down to bed.  She is in an in-between phase where she still technically needs a nap but doesn't fall asleep until after three, which puts her napping way too late into the evening so she doesn't go to bed.  Not a fun cycle.  However, for the 4th, she didn't get a nap, which put her as extremely cranky for the night.  We decided to forgo fireworks for her and Kai.

So Zuri and I went back out to the park, where the carnival was still going strong.  They also had Hotel Transylvania 2 playing on a giant projector screen.  When we arrived, I asked a couple police officers where the fireworks were going to be lit.  They told me directly to the west of where we were, so Zuri and I wandered for a bit and set up our spot where we thought we would get a good view.

As it grew darker, we could see other firework shows all around us in a 360 view.  At one time I counted twelve separate displays.  It was absolutely beautiful.  But as it got darker and our "show" still hadn't happened, I began to think that maybe that was all we were going to get.  By ten-twelve I decided to bag it and go home.  We packed up our stuff and were walking toward the car when all of a sudden there was a loud BOOM right above us.  We hastily plopped down.  Our show had finally started, and we were not disappointed.  It was spectacular, and loud.  Poor Zuri had her hands over her ears until one nice lady offered us earplugs.

Zuri had a blast and wanted to make sure that I took lots of pictures and video of the fireworks.  She kept saying, "did you get that one?  Take a video!"  She was too cute.  I think she really enjoyed having one-on-one time with me (that wasn't shopping).

Walmart Fail

 With Kai being out of school for the summer, I have had to adjust the way that I do things in order to be able to get errands done.  We are saving our respite hours for our many vacations this summer, so nothing extra is added to our days.  My grandpa has been a lifesaver--honestly, life would be a thousand times harder without his help--but there was one day that my grandpa was unavailable and I had to run a few errands that couldn't wait.

So I loaded up River and Kai (Zuri was still in school--the fun of year-round) and got the errands accomplished.  I also needed a few things from Walmart, so I figured that I could just grab a hand-basket; a cart is very hard to navigate with Kai, and Walmart doesn't have any child disability carts.  I couldn't find any baskets, and when I asked about it the associate was pretty rude to me and said said they don't have any and to use a cart.  I was pretty irritated.  I contemplated going home, but we were already out and I really needed a few items.  I went directly to the storage bin area and found a nifty bucket to use.  I had to balance it on my hip as I went through the store.  I was not happy.  In fact, I even ranted on Instagram/Facebook:

Epic Walmart fail. I had to run some errands today and my last stop was at Walmart. I only needed a few things to make it until the weekend, so I figured I'd just grab a hand basket (because of the weight and bulk of the items). When I got inside, not only does Walmart not have anything remotely like the Caroline cart for Jeremy (see Target), but they don't even have baskets! The Walmart associate was rather rude when I asked. He said to use a cart. 😒 Um...right. I've tried that before, dragging a cart while pushing Jeremy. It doesn't work well. So, I improvised. I saw one of these handy totes and balanced it on my hip as a basket.

My frustration was not only with the fact that there wasn't a hand basket, but with the rude attitude of the Walmart employee.  I don't often get out with Kai by myself because of the very reason of having to push a cart and Kai's stroller.  What is up with Walmart not having hand baskets anymore?  One of my friends said that she was told a cart is bigger so people will buy more.  Ugh.  Some people have budgets and stick with them.  Some people have disabled children in wheelchairs and need a hand basket.

Okay, rant over.  On another note, we've had to cut River's hair.  It made me so sad--I seriously cried.  When she goes to bed at night she's been pulling her hair, to the point that over time she has created bald spots.  Zuri went through the same thing at her age, only Zuri would also do it when we were present so it was easier to catch and put a stop to it.  River's pediatrician isn't overly concerned at this point, and said it's something that some toddlers do for comfort.  River has never been a thumb or binky baby, so I guess this is her vice.  Honestly, I'd rather deal with the binky.

Lastly, next week was supposed to be when we get Kai's new wheelchair, but there's been a delay, so as of now, we don't know when it's going to be ready.  We are really disappointed, but hopefully it won't be too much longer!